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WDFW reports minimum 270 wolves, rising packs and limited depredations in 2025 annual wolf report
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Summary
The department reported a minimum statewide count of 270 wolves, 49 packs and 23 successful breeding pairs in 2025; known mortalities numbered 28 (about 90% human-caused), WDFW removed four wolves for livestock depredations and total wolf-management spending neared $2 million.
Department staff presented the 2025 annual wolf report, summarizing monitoring, mortalities, depredation responses, prevention spending and ongoing research.
Counts and trend: Gabriel Spence, WDFW wolf biologist, said the department's minimum winter count was 270 wolves, representing 49 packs and 23 successful breeding pairs. Staff cautioned that minimum counts are conservative by design: they represent the smallest number the department can confirm from surveys and telemetry and do not preclude undetected animals.
Mortality and removals: Trent Ruzin, another WDFW wolf biologist, reported 28 documented mortalities in 2025, roughly 90% of which were human-caused. Legal harvest by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation accounted for the largest single component of documented mortality (12 wolves); three human-caused mortalities of unknown origin and three unlawful takes were also recorded. In response to livestock depredations, the agency removed four wolves (two from the Columbia pack, one from the Togo pack and one from the Sherman pack).
Conflict prevention and compensation: WDFW reported four direct claims and five indirect claims processed last year, paying roughly $23,000 for direct compensation and about $66,000 for indirect losses (claims span grazing seasons and may cross calendar years). Damage-prevention cooperative agreements with 27 producers totaled more than $100,000 in cost-share funds; WDFW contracted eight range riders (~$150,000) and cited a Department of Agriculture grant of $840,000 available for the 2025–27 biennium to support additional range-riding efforts and producer programs.
Costs and research: Staff identified approximately $92,000 spent on lethal-removal operations and about $1.5 million on broader wolf-management activities (capture, collaring, staff time); total wolf-management expenditures in 2025 were reported as just under $2 million. Presenters described ongoing research into range-riding effectiveness and human-dimensions studies with University of Washington partners and others.
Commission response: Commissioners asked whether Eastern Washington and other areas are approaching ecological carrying capacity; staff said growth in Eastern zones appears to be leveling and that the North Cascades still shows relatively high growth. Commissioners discussed dispersal barriers (for example, the Columbia River corridor and I-90) and whether translocation would ever be considered; staff responded that translocation is a policy decision beyond the biological briefing, and noted that dispersal continues to occur unpredictably.
The department encouraged public wolf-sighting reports to assist monitoring outside collared-pack polygons and said it will continue to track population, conflict and research metrics in future reports.
